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San Diego: More Tension Between EC and Council

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

Robert Wechsler

The relationship between San Diego's council and ethics commission
continues to prove unhealthy. It shows how wrong it is for elected
officials to appoint and control the body that oversees their conduct.

According to an
article in today's Union-Tribune, a long-term EC investigation has
led to an accusation that a council member did not report campaign
expenses until eight months after they were incurred. That should be
the central story, but it's not.

The council member's attorney insists that the EC rejected his request
to discuss a settlement because of what he said in council hearings on
giving the EC more powers. According to another Union-Tribune
article, what the attorney said is, “The commission staff at this time, as
a group, is driven more by
accumulating unfettered power, bullying witnesses and prevailing at all
costs. They have conducted fishing expeditions long after
they've determined no real violation has occurred.”

According to a Union-Tribune
news blog in August, the council member, before recusing herself on
a vote concerning the EC, said, "It's my hope the Ethics Commission
will bring this fishing expedition to an end."

From this, it sounds as if the attorney was, indeed, speaking for his
client. This same council member had tried to put one of her campaign
workers on the EC, leading to even more acrimony.

In September, according to another Union-Tribune
article, the council's rules committee voted down proposals to give
the EC subpoena power and to make it illegal for people to knowingly
lie or provide false documents to the EC. Three of the five committee
members have been fined a total of $30,000 by the EC. It was at this
hearing that the council member's attorney tried to make the EC look
power hungry and irresponsible.

The EC's executive director said after this decision that the council
committee “essentially decided today that it is acceptable in the
city of San Diego for people to choose not to cooperate with an Ethics
Commission investigation and also that it is acceptable that there are
no consequences if people knowingly provide false evidence."

Subpoena power is important for any body charged with investigating
possible wrongdoing. Without it, it is difficult to do an adequate job.
An EC without subpoena power is often forced to dismiss cases, and it is far
more difficult to enter into settlements, because respondents can rely
on their colleagues and subordinates not to cooperate with an EC
investigation, especially in an environment hostile to the EC.

The San Diego ethics program is much too politicized. One reason is
that the EC was created by citizen initiative. The council has never
really accepted it. I've written more about San Diego's problems in
earlier blog posts: